Let’s Treat Population dynamics as national priority – Dr. Leticia Appiah
The Executive Director of the National Population Council ,Dr Leticia Appiah has called on all stake holders both national and international to treat population dynamics as a national priority . Developed countries are developed because they prioritized population issues alongside infrastructural development.
To that end, if we seek accelerated socio economic development we have to prioritize population issues alongside infrastructural development.
Speaking to this reporter in her office, she postulated that if the country doesn’t see population issue as national priority , our quest to national development could be inefficient, long and tedious. Research and best practices abounds to support this.
According to her, the country as a whole and individuals stand to benefit if all stakeholders recognise the enormous power of population management in our lives.
She therefore called on policy advisors, makers , implementers and implementaters to improve population education and services across the length and breadth of the country to improve the health and well being of individuals and communities.
She said poverty is rampant in families communities and countries where population related issues such as child marriage and teen pregnancies abound either by choice or default and no attention given to population growth and its consequences.
I am certain that one of the major barriers to meeting the sustainable development goal is our lack of adequate attention in addressing population and related issues on the continent .
She intimated as in other developed countries, we should have planned purposeful births to reduce our expenditure and improve our family and national savings whiles improving our well being.
Rich people have fewer healthy, better educated and skilled children whiles the poor are kept in poverty by having many , less educated and less skilled children .
Relevant stakeholders such as religious and traditional authorities have to challege some practices and help the citizens adopt behaviours that support resilience both as indivuduals and as a nation .
Dr Appiah reminded us that teenage pregnancies ,unplanned births among others translate into unemployment, social vices, dangerous menial jobs and poor remmenuration that affect the health and wellness of majority of the people and national security .
“The problem in Africa is that we prioritize physical infrastructural development over population dynamics. Population dynamics and infrastructural development are to go hand in hand . Unfortunately, in Africa , the focus is only on infrastructural development which is never enough because of rapid population growth rate . The developed are always in a better position to improve the well being of their citizens because population growth and infrastructural development are in harmony . Fewer , healthier and better educated children translates into healthier productive adults with longer productive lives and inproved life expectancy. Old age is a sign of good living which effective population management quarantees. We are not meant to die young. Dying young means there is something amiss which we must collectively correct.
On the issue of tackling our population issues ,she called on government to make contraceptives easily available for women in their reproductive age to access and urged public health practitioners to educate women on the importance of contraceptives to empower the women use the methods . She said the benefits of using far outweights the minor associated discomfort . She also called for the abolition of child marriages like Yahya Jammeh outlawed it in Gambia ; as well national programs linking child marriage and teen pregnancies to over fishing and child labour in our coastal regions etc. . Again a country like Rwanda identifies family planning as an economic intervention and prioritises it in their developmental agenda. Addressing our population issues will help us bridge inequality gaps in health , education and leave no one behind . Without a focus on population management, the inequality gap may continue to widen and threaten sustainable development.
Like the fight against galamsey, she is calling on all stakeholders to call for a national dialogue to tackle the dual monster cohesively not in silos . She is advocating for the assemblies to rally district stakeholders to support responsible parenting to reduce teenage pregnancies and juvenile delinquency.
Again she advocated for proper consistent , well structured population related education and Sensitisation on this important national concern by all
She emphasised that population issues are of economic, social, cultural and political importance and the country must rise up to situate it in its right perspective.
This in her opinion is the sure pathway to sustainable development of families, communities and the nation.
